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White on Hendo: 'We'll talk'

At 43, Henderson holds one of the great records in the sport's history, across 17 years, and is at an appropriate point to retire, if he wants to. But he doesn't want to. Hendo said recently he wants three or four more fights, over the next two years, and in the UFC.

The UFC generally signs notable fighters to a new contract before the expiration of the old one. However, Henderson, who made a flat $250,000 per fight, waited until after the contract expired to negotiate a new one. A win over the surging Vitor Belfort would have put Henderson in a quite strong negotiating position. The loss puts him in a quite weak negotiating position. So weak, there is some doubt he will even be offered a contract at all.

UFC president Dana White addressed the question Saturday night after the end of UFC Fight Night 32 in Goiania, Brazil.

"Yeah, obviously we’ll get together, we’ll talk to him," said White. "He’s on a three-fight losing streak right now. His age and everything else, I’ve got to talk to him and see. I knew Dan would want to fight again; he’s a fighter, that’s what he does. So, we’ll talk."

White made similar remarks at the post-fight press conference, saying he will talk with Henderson in a few weeks to figure it out. Henderson, who suffered a KO for the first time in his career, went to the hospital after the fight.

Yeah, but at this point in his career... He's not worth what he once was. And in a huge Hendo fan. I watch his old fights compared to his new ones, and he just doesn't have it like he use too. He's older, on a three fight skid and just took the first ko loss of his career. Everyone has to cash in sometime, and I think that's the best option for fans and his legacy at this point. There is no title shot in sight anymore, his career will only go down. Even with notable wins I don't see him ever beating two belts at once lol... Or even getting one again. I'm sure Dana will let him fight for less, I'm not sure how much of a draw dan is... I think, as a fan of his, while I'll support him... I'd rather watch his highlight reel.

Bellator WILL scoop him up if ZUFFA doesn't resign him and despite the fact that Hendo's market value has definitely gone down since he dropped out of the Jones fight(3 straight losses, 41 years old), I could definitely see ZUFFA signing him if only to ensure the other guys don't get him.

In that same sentence, ZUFFA could let Hendo go just to see Viacom overspend and move further into the red by overpaying worse than the early 2000s New York Rangers. Hendo's not as banged up as Tito and Tito got a plush contract, so who knows what Hendo could pull.

My take, ZUFFA either resigns him at a slight discount and uses him as a TV co-main eventer ala Wand's level and gradually leads him into retirement(although, I don't think that's where Hendo's at), or ZUFFA cuts him loose and Bellator announces Rampage/Hendo II for their next PPV.

Bottom line, Hendo's name still sells tickets, ppv buys, and ratings. Should Dan choose to keep fighting, he'll be re-signed with the UFC, if only to keep him off the Bellator roster. Id say he's worth 3 more fights at his current rate, or maybe a little less... 200k or 225k flat rate.. Or maybe he moves to a show/win style contract with wins coming at his 250k rate..

With the number of aging stars on the UFC roster now, Id almost be ready to see a "legends" league, for fighters 35 and older. Would let us fans keep seeing our heroes in a positive light, and would let the fighters go out fighting big name fights, and not just wind up being stepping stones for younger fighters.

public opinion? Dan Henderson is still a hot topic. There are what? 3 active threads about him right now on this forum alone? And he hasn't made an appearance since the actual fight. You can add another 2 or 3 when he makes a statement.. Id say thats a pretty good indication his name is still valuable.

public opinion? Dan Henderson is still a hot topic. There are what? 3 active threads about him right now on this forum alone? And he hasn't made an appearance since the actual fight. You can add another 2 or 3 when he makes a statement.. Id say thats a pretty good indication his name is still valuable.

To us, yes. The ones that are in mma chat rooms and forums dissecting anything MMA related. The ones that are going to watch every event they can regardless of who's fighting.

UFC 139: 270,000 buys
UFC 161: >200,000 buys

Those are the last two events he headlines. One against Shogun, the other against Rashad Evans. All three big name stars, both ppvs under delivered.